The first complete edition of this notorious novel which maps the 1980s anarchic underground of
Los Angeles. Published in excerpts over almost four decades Jack Skelley’s secretly legendary”
novel is at once an homage to the thrillingly inventive spirit of Kathy Acker’s cut-up novels
and a definitive history of LA’s underground culture of the mid-1980s. Composed in bursts Fear
of Kathy Acker depicts Los Angeles through the eyes of a self-mocking narrator. Shifting styles
and personae as he moves between Venice and Torrance punk clubs and shopping malls Disneyland
and Dodger Stadium Jack Skelley pushes the limits of language and identity while pursuing—much
as Kathy Acker did—a quixotic literary mix of discipline and anarchy. In this adrenalized
cosmic and comic chronicle of Los Angeles Skelley’s real life” friends make cameo appearances
alongside pop archetypes from Madonna to Billy Idol. This first-ever complete edition of the
book includes new essays playlists and a map of the 1980s Los Angeles in which its manic
protagonist lives and loves.
